Potsdam, N.Y. - Junior Mike Sampson (Columbus, OH/Upper Arlington) led Rensselaer with four goals and one assist and the Red Hawks defeated SUNY Potsdam, 15-6, in a non-league game. With the victory RPI improves to 9-0, while the Bears fall to 3-4, including their first home loss of the season.

The Red Hawks took an early lead and they prevailed 3-1 at the end of the first period. Rensselaer then scored four times in the second and led 7-4 at halftime. RPI dominated the third period 4-0 before outscoring Potsdam 4-2 in the fourth.

In addition to Sampson's five points, other offensive standouts for the Red Hawks were Josh Secora (Evergreen, CO/Golden) with two goals and twoassists, PJ McComb (Newington, CT/ Newington) with three goals and Paul Cerone (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) with three assists.

John Thibdeau (Altamont, NY/Bethlehem) was the Red Hawks first-half goalkeeper, stopping two shots for the win. He was relieved by Ryan Michels (Wilmington,DE/Brandywine), who tallied three saves in the second half.

Matt Vaverchak (Binghamton/Seton Catholic) topped the stats for Potsdam with three points, including one goal. Corey Reinhart (Albany/Colonie) and George Nolan (Marcellus/Marcellus) followed with two goals and two assists, respectively.

Goalkeeper Brian Hondorf (Webster-Schroeder/MCC) had 12 saves in the loss for Potsdam.